Computer generated aircraft displays have become highly sophisticated and capable of displaying a substantial amount of flight management, navigation, and control information that gives flight crews more effective control of the aircraft and a reduction in workload. In this regard, electronic displays, such as head-up displays (HUDs) and head-down displays (HDDs), are used in aircraft as Primary Flight Displays to display important flight management, navigation, and control information to flight crews.
As an example, a HUD typically projects flight information onto a combiner located within the general viewing area (e.g., the cockpit window) of the aircraft pilot. The HUD system can combine critical flight instrumentation (e.g., altitude, attitude, heading, airspeed, vertical speed instruments) and primary engine instrument indicators into a single, readily interpretable display. As a result, HUD systems have become effective visual tools for controlling aircraft, reducing pilot workload, increasing situational awareness, and improving overall flight safety.
However, the amount of flight information provided onto the combiner of a conventional HUD system is generally limited to permit simultaneous viewing of the flight information and the environment beyond the cockpit window. Since the combiner overlays the information onto a view of the actual environment, any information having a particular position on the environment may not be accurately displayed in some instances. For example, if the information is symbology representing an airport, and the airport is located behind a mountain, conventional HUD systems could render the airport without regard to the intervening terrain, thereby producing an image that appears as if the airport extends through the mountain. It is therefore desirable to improve the accuracy of the information presented to the flight crew.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide systems and methods with enhanced display of symbology, particularly an enhanced display of geo-referenced symbology. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.